Ways to motivate employees

When we think about motivating our employees, often the first things that come to mind are the traditional carrots. A raise, a promotion, a year-end bonus.

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By Jennie Wong

recordnet.com

By Jennie Wong

Posted Jul. 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Jennie Wong

Posted Jul. 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

When we think about motivating our employees, often the first things that come to mind are the traditional carrots. A raise, a promotion, a year-end bonus.

But what if your business is struggling and cash is tight? You need to maintain morale to weather the hard times, and you probably need your team to be more motivated than ever. How can you keep your people happy and striving for ever-greater heights without spending a lot of resources?

Talk about their career development. Even if you're a small business without a traditional "career path," don't overlook development for your employees. Simply sitting down to discuss someone's professional growth can have tremendous benefits, including greater engagement, retention and productivity. It simply feels good to know that your boss cares enough to spend time talking about your goals and adding to your tool set.

Build their intrinsic motivation. And while everyone wants and needs to be paid fairly, the key to peak performance is more likely to come from intrinsic motivation, which comes from enjoying an activity for its own sake versus viewing it as a means to an end.

There are several ways to increase your employees' sense of intrinsic motivation. In his book "Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us," Daniel Pink suggests three specific approaches. First, provide greater autonomy. Can you provide more choice and control to your employees in regards to their tasks, how they do them, when they do them and with whom? Second is mastery. Simply put, getting really good at something, anything, is motivating in and of itself. Third is purpose. Can you connect your business and your people to a larger purpose or value?

One employee might appreciate a simple shift in his work schedule that provides greater flexibility, or you may be able to help another employee master an important skill set by providing her with a couple of books or an online training course.

Use friendly competition. Another way to increase motivation at work is to consider a technique called gamification. While some cite this as a new trend, it had its roots in familiar ideas like sales contests and leaderboards.

If you're interested in experimenting with gamification in your business, begin with a light hand. Think about the goals of the business and your staff. Invite your people to offer input on how a game should be designed and what the rules should be. (And remember: As the boss, it's also your job to think through possible unintended consequences.)

And finally, in gamification and in all of your motivational efforts, remember to focus on the positive versus penalties. The larger goal is not to manipulate people into doing more work, but to find authentic ways to help your team do their jobs even better through intrinsically fun things like learning.

Contact Jennie Wong, an executive coach and author of the ebook "Ask the Mompreneur," at TheJennieWong@gmail.com.